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Prevalence of Indoor Tanning Quantified for Young Women

Monday, August 19, 2013 (Last Updated: 08/20/2013)

MONDAY, Aug. 19 (HealthDay News) -- For non-Hispanic white females, the prevalence of indoor tanning is about 30 percent for high school students and about 25 percent among 18- to 34-year-olds, according to a research letter published online Aug. 19 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Gery P. Guy Jr., Ph.D., M.P.H., from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and colleagues used data from the 2011 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey of high school students and the 2010 National Health Interview Survey for 18- to 34-year-olds. The authors sought to estimate the prevalence of indoor tanning (using an indoor tanning device at least once during the previous 12 months) and frequent indoor tanning (using an indoor tanning device at least 10 times during the previous 12 months) among non-Hispanic white females.

The researchers found that the prevalence of indoor tanning was 29.3 percent and the prevalence of frequent indoor tanning was 16.7 percent among non-Hispanic white female high school students, with the prevalence increasing with age. For non-Hispanic white women aged 18 to 34 years, the prevalence of indoor tanning was 24.9 percent and the prevalence of frequent indoor tanning was 15.1 percent, with the prevalence decreasing with age.

"This study provides nationally representative estimates, allowing for the continued monitoring of indoor tanning and evaluation of efforts aimed at curbing the widespread use of indoor tanning among young women and reducing the burden of skin cancer," the authors write.